Page 138 - 2019 September 11th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art

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PROPERTY OF A LADY As a porcelain motif, the four carp swimming amid a lotus
AN EXTREMELY RARE LARGE BLUE AND pond was taken up by Jingdezhen’s porcelain painters
WHITE ‘CARP’ FISHBOWL already in the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), and some of the
finest Yuan blue and white jars are painted with this subject,
WANLI MARK AND PERIOD such as the ‘fish’ jar in the Museum of Oriental Ceramics,
stoutly potted, the steep sides rising to a lipped rim, finely Osaka, from the Ataka Collection illustrated in Tōyō tōji no
painted on the exterior in vibrant tones of rich underglaze tenkai/Masterpieces of Oriental Ceramics, The Museum of
cobalt-blue with four lively fan-tailed fish including a carp, Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, 1999, cat. no. 33. The scene on
mandarin fish, and two types of bream, depicted in varying the present bowl appears to have been directly inspired by
attitudes, swimming among flowering lotus, ferns and gently such Yuan porcelain prototypes.
undulating aquatic plants, a band of stylized rolling and The motif retained its popularity throughout the Ming
cresting waves encircling the base, all between line borders, dynasty, appearing on various imperial porcelain wares.
the rim inscribed with a six-character mark in a horizontal The Jiajing Emperor (r. 1521-1567), particularly favored the
line design and in the 21st year of his reign, it is recorded that
Diameter 22½ in., 57.2 cm he commissioned two hundred blue and white guan jars
decorated with qing, bai, li, and gui carp. While such an order
PROVENANCE was in keeping with the Jiajing Emperor’s deep commitment
Collection of Bertram Stanley Boggis (1887-1958), and to Daoism, it also reflects awareness of the subject matter
thence by descent. that could only be known from earlier Yuan and Ming dynasty
examples. The impressive size of the present form provided
$ 50,000-70,000 the imperial artisans at Jingdezhen an expansive surface to
bring their subject matter to life. The painters managed to
明萬曆 青花魚藻紋大缸 exploit the cobalt pigment to maximum effect and to create
an amazingly rich tonal variation, The fishes are drawn with
《大明萬曆年製》款 dark violet-blue outlines and details over paler blue washes;
on the leaves the veins are delicately delineated in darker
來源 tones, and the crisply rendered gentle bends and curves
Bertram Stanley Boggis (1887-1958) 收藏，此後家族傳承 of the plant life complement the cylindrical form and add
dimension and movement to the peaceful scene.
The felicitous subject matter on the present fishbowl The present fishbowl is exceptionally rare as very few other
delightfully references the function of the vessel, in effect examples are known. A very similar fishbowl, gifted by Walter
doubling the multi-layered auspicious meanings traditionally P. Chrysler, Jr. (1909-1988), is in the Chrysler Museum of
associated with depiction of swimming fish. Synonymous Art, Norfolk, acc. no. 1971.2585. See also a closely related
with the character for ‘excess’, fish (yu) are an emblem of fishbowl sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st June 2011, lot
wealth and abundance. In addition, the representation of 3590, along with another of this type from the collection
fish has also long been imbued with Daoist connotations of Jerry Gottlieb offered at Christie’s New York. 19th-20th
derived from their freedom of movement as related in the September 2013, lot 1291. A slightly smaller version of
‘Debate on the Joy of Fishes’ in the Zhuangzi. A depiction a carp-decorated fishbowl is in the Shanghai Museum,
of the subject forms the rebus for Yushui hexie ‘May you be Shanghai and illustrated in Lu Minghua, Underglaze Blue
as harmonious as fish and water’. The four different types and Red: Elegant Decoration on Porcelain of Yuan, Ming and
of fish on the current jar conveys a more complex rebus, Qing,Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 1-72.
cleverly combining to suggest either, Qingbai liangui, ‘Of One other Wanli imperial four-carp fishbowl similar to the
good descent, modest and honorable’ or Qingbai lianjie, ‘Of present example is of significant interest. The likely mate
honorable descent and incorruptible’.
to the present fishbowl, also owned by Bertram S. Boggis
(1887-1958), was sold by the executors of his estate in a
single-owner sale representing the better part of his large
and impressive collection at Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc.,
New York, 16th-17th October 1958, lot 401. The present
example, which was not included in the sale, has remained
with the family until now. Bertram S. Boggis, known as a
collector of Chinese porcelains, was a protégé and chief
assistant to the famous art dealer Joseph Duveen (1869-
1939). Following Duveen’s death, Boggis became a co-owner
of the New York gallery, established in 1877, along with
Edward Fowles (a long serving employee) and Armand
Lowengard (Duveen’s nephew). The London and Paris
branches of the Duveen gallery had both closed shortly after
the end of World War II.

136 SOTHEBY’S IMPORTANT CHINESE ART